Festival season is the perfect excuse for floaty dresses, body glitter, flower crowns and wellies. Unfortunately, it can also be the perfect excuse for casual assault, intimidation and sexual harassment.
All in Affairs & Opinions
One World Women: Working Together Across Borders
One World Women is an international, peer-to-peer training initiative, aimed at promoting business growth for ambitious female entrepreneurs in Western Africa. I caught up with the charity’s founder, Cath Harris, to discuss the past, present and future of this inspiring project.
Why are women so infatuated with serial killers?
What is it that makes killers so magnetic? Why do so many of us lust after people who would probably murder us in a dark alley? Doesn’t it go against every basic survival instinct?
#PodcastPick – The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson
This is a podcast about porn. You might think that listening to a (rich) straight white man talk about the porn industry would be eye-rollingly irritating, but in this podcast series Ronson takes a refreshingly holistic approach…
Is social media making us lonely?
When it comes to the elderly, loneliness is taken seriously. It’s a silent killer, an epidemic; charities and initiatives dedicated to combating it have sprung up all over the world, and rightly so. Why then as a society are we so reluctant to admit that loneliness is prolific amongst the younger generations too?
Disconnected
Dry January, Veganuary, January diets… As the Monday of the year draws to an end, plenty are looking forward to easing off on the self-restriction in February. And yet, one friend of the mag has a diet of a different kind planned… a social media cleanse.
Sticks & Stones: Talking Violence
The news app on my phone sent me a headline about a ‘Tinder Horror Date’. When I read the article, however, all was not how it had first seemed. Do we need to use clickbaity buzzwords with more sensitivity? YES. Do we need to think a little deeper about how we discuss violence? YES.
DVLA? More like DVL – hey, wait a minute, is that sexism?
We’ve all found ourselves dragged into futile conversations about which activities, hobbies and professions suit which genders. Of course, there's no answer. So why does the DVLA (Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency) consider a woman's relationship status relevant to her interest in driving?
First Words: For the Kid's Sake, Watch Your Tongue
As a society, we’ve never been more aware of gender stereotyping – or wanted to fight it harder. And that battle begins at birth. We dress our children in ‘neutral’ clothes, encourage girls to play with hammers and boys to care for dolls, and teach them that they can be absolutely anything they want to be. But is that enough?
My First Job: Why are there so Few Women in Tech?
My first job out of an English Literature degree and I find myself as a woman working in STEM. Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are traditionally, and to this day, reserved for male minds…
10 Things to Help You Feel Better
Everyone has those days where everything feels rubbish. Getting out of bed is hard, getting out of your pyjamas is hard and so is just about everything else that could possibly be labelled as productive – from talking to other humans, right down to basic bodily hygiene (it’s gross, but we’ve all been there). To help on those grey days, Harpy has made a little list to get you through.
Mum Shaming: why we’re all to blame for the global guilt trip phenomenon
I disapprove when I see a screeching child placated with a packet of chocolate buttons or when I see a mum stuff a smartphone into their bothersome kid’s hand. It’s clearly bad parenting. They should be ashamed of themselves. But here’s the thing…
No Place for Transphobia in the Gender Recognition Act Consultation
The UK government is looking to reform the Gender Recognition Act, with the aim of making it easier for trans people to change their legal gender. Some feminist groups have responded with protests and fears for women’s rights. Are their arguments valid, or a mere veil over their transphobia?
Freedom4Girls: Ending Period Poverty
Most of us have experienced that unease and paranoia; when a tampon falls out of our bag in public. Worst of all, most of us know how horrifying it is to realise that you have leaked. But, most of us probably don’t know what it’s like to not be able to afford basic menstrual protection.
Bee Kind: How You Can Help Save Our Pollinators
Bees are dying out. We need to do something to curb it.
I’m sure this isn’t news to all of you – and amidst the other innumerable nightmares taking place across the globe, it can feel like just another sign we’re hurtling towards apocalypse.
Wish: A Voice for Women's Mental Health
Wish are a women’s mental health charity; the only national, user-led charity working with women with mental health needs in prison, hospital and the community. Charity director Joyce Kallevik chats to Harpy about their work.
#BOPO Hacks: 9 Ways to Dodge Bikini Body Bullshit
Summer has arrived with a sweaty sigh. Between the never-ending Love Island coverage and the trauma that is swimwear shopping (just buy it online!), it’s easy for our insecurities to bloom and fester. Everywhere we look there are tips for shrinking, tanning, polishing, and concealing.
Noura Hussein's Death Penalty is Revoked
In an incredible result for women’s rights activists all over the world, Noura Hussein, the Sudanese teenager who was due to be hanged for killing her rapist, has had her death sentence revoked.
The Impossibility of a Female Artist
The very idea of a woman working acts as an allegory for potential freedom and autonomy: it provides an alternative to being dependent and, to a certain extent, an alternative to marriage. This article will explore how the female artist is portrayed as limited in these two novels, as well as looking at the ways in which this limit still exists given the reaction to Lily Cole’s appointment as creative partner to the Brontë Society.
There’s No Such Thing as ‘Female-Fronted’ Music
You’ll never catch me listening to a female-fronted band. Why? Because there’s no such thing. You probably already know that ‘male-fronted’ bands don’t exist—it’s rare to see male artists being defined by their gender, so why have people latched onto the idea that a band can be female-fronted?